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This exhibition restages ‘art – photography – therapy’, an exhibition of Jo Spence’s photography curated by Terry Dennett in 2008, for an international photo therapy conference in Turku, Finland. Discovered in a battered portfolio in the Jo Spence Memorial Library Archive, the original exhibition’s 41 panels include some of Spence’s best known and impactful work, from the series Remodelling Photo History (1981-1982) and The Picture of Health? (1982-1986) to various photo therapy collaborations with Rosy Martin and others, ending with the Final Project she made while coming to terms with a terminal diagnosis. 

The Project Remains Incomplete considers the role of Dennett in nurturing the educational and artistic legacy of Spence, after her death from leukaemia. Dennett, a lifelong collaborator of Spence’s, dedicated his life to stewarding her archive and making it available to students and the public. The title of the exhibition comes from Dennett’s own reflections about Spence’s unfinished Final Project.

This restaging also brings together archival material and voices that were not present in Dennett’s original curation in Finland. In so doing, The Project Remains Incomplete invites reflections on the role of curators and archivists in activating the past for use in the present, and in shaping artistic afterlives and reputations. Spence’s work continues to speak to current concerns with women’s self-representation, agency and the female gaze, as well as the therapeutic and political uses of photography. 

Led by Patrizia Di Bello, Professor of History and Theory of Photography at Birkbeck, the curatorial team includes Talia Ulrich, Olga Murphy, Kerry Hart, Julian Ehsan, Farzad Fazilat, and Chloe Griffiths. 

‘The Project Remains Incomplete’: Jo Spence, Curated by Terry Dennett
22 May – 10 July 2026
Peltz Gallery, 43 Gordon Square London WC1H 0PD
Free admission, Monday to Friday, 10AM to 8PM. Closed on weekends

Image credit: Jo Spence with Terry Dennett and David Robert, ‘Return to Nature’, from Final Project, 1991-92. Laminated plastic panel made by Terry Dennett circa 2008, 405 by 500 mm. All Jo Spence’s work © Image Centre, Toronto

Widely considered one of the doyennes of late twentieth-century British photography, Dorothy Bohm was born Dorothea Israelit in Germany in 1924. Sent to the safety of England in 1939, she attended school in Sussex and studied photography in Manchester before setting up her own portrait studio there. In the late 1940s, inspired by a visit to the artists’ colony of Ascona in the Ticino, Switzerland, she started working outside the studio, capturing moments in ordinary lives with profound humanity and an instinctive eye for composition. Her first exhibition was held at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), London, in 1969, where she met Roland Penrose, who memorably commented that ‘her camera does not only see, it also feels.’ In the early 1970s Dorothy was involved with the founding of The Photographers’ Gallery in London, where alongside founder Sue Davies, she helped introduce a British public to the great names of contemporary photography, as well as to nurture the careers of younger photographers.

In the mid-1980s Dorothy abandoned black and white photography for colour, infusing her images with texture and spatial ambiguity to convey humanity in increasingly abstract and allusive forms. Dorothy Bohm died in March 2023 at the age of nearly 99. She had continued to take photographs until her early nineties.

Farley House and Gallery commented: 'We are delighted to exhibit About Women at the Lee Miller Gallery, a show that features a significant number of delightful images taken in Sussex in the 1960s and 1970s. This important exhibition includes both black and white, and colour photographs. Taken across the world over many decades with women as their subject, they capture moments in ordinary lives with profound humanity and an instinctive eye for composition. When asked, Dorothy stated: “I think of women as the most natural subjects for me.” The exhibition title is taken from her book About Women, which was first published 2015 and is still in print. Dorothy’s images of women are always intensely empathetic and, at times, reveal an astute, implicitly critical, awareness of the male gaze.'

Dorothy Bohm - About Women
Farleys House & Gallery, Chiddingly, East Sussex, BN8 6HW.
Open: Thursday, Friday, Sunday & selected Saturdays, April-October 1000- 1630
See: https://www.farleyshouseandgallery.co.uk/

Image: Dorothy Bohm, Goodwood. © Estate of Dorothy Bohm. 

In celebration of Marilyn Monroe’s 100th birthday and in association with the Marilyn Monroe estate, the National Portrait Gallery will present Marilyn Monroe: A Portrait (4 June – 6 September 2026). This major exhibition will celebrate the life and work of one of the most famous women of the 20^th century through portraits. It will explore the role she played in her own image making, and her inspiration on photographers and artists in her lifetime and long after.

Born on 1 June 1926, Monroe remains a defining presence in popular culture. From the earliest pin-up photographs made when she was a young model named Norma Jeane, to her last interview for Life Magazine and the poignant final images taken on Santa Monica beach in 1962, she was one of the most photographed people in the world, and fascinated and inspired some of its greatest artists. The exhibition will bring together works by Andy Warhol, Pauline Boty, James Gill, Rosalyn Drexler and Audrey Flack, alongside photographs by over 20 era-defining photographers including Cecil Beaton, Philippe Halsman, Bernard of Hollywood, André de Dienes, Eve Arnold, Inge Morath, Alfred Eisenstaedt, Milton Greene, Sam Shaw, Richard Avedon and George Barris.

The exhibition will also feature previously unseen photographs from Life magazine; intimate portraits taken by Allan Grant at Monroe's Brentwood residence just one day before her death in August 1962. Grant's exclusive session, which accompanied her final interview with Life associate editor Richard Meryman, captured 432 images of which only eight were originally published. These dynamic photographs show Monroe reading the transcript of her interview, performing a range of emotions from joy and contentment to quiet reflection.

Photographers who worked with Monroe described her as the best subject they had ever had. The exhibition will foreground Monroe's collaborative approach to image making and her creative agency; she not only performed, but also directed sessions and claimed the right to veto any images she did not like.

The shock of Monroe's death in 1962 was a catalyst for the production of numerous portraits by artists on both sides of the Atlantic. British Pop artist Pauline Boty, a devoted fan, worked through her grief in paintings including The Only Blonde in the World (1963) and Colour Her Gone (1962). In New York, Andy Warhol created his iconic screen prints. Based on a publicity still taken to promote the film Niagara (1953), Warhol isolated Monroe's face against a field of gold, enshrining her like a Byzantine saint. In Warhol's work, Monroe was no longer just a movie star, but the great American icon. James Francis Gill made his triptych Marilyn (1962), while Joseph Cornell assembled delicate memorial boxes dedicated to Monroe. Monroe continues to fascinate artists, drawn to her iconic presence and fascinating life.

The exhibition is curated by Rosie Broadley, Joint Head of Curatorial and Senior Curator of 20th Century Collections, and Georgia Atienza, Assistant Curator of Photography. 

Marilyn Monroe: A Portrait
4 June-6 September 2026
London, National Portrait Gallery
See: www.npg.org.uk 

Images: L-R: Marilyn Monroe, 1962, by Allan Grant, © 1962 MM LLC (Photographs by Allan Grant), www.marilynslostphotos.com; Marilyn Monroe, Mount Sinai, Long Island, 1952, by Eve Arnold, © Eve Arnold Estate; Marilyn Monroe, 1955, by Milton H. Greene, © 1962 MM LLC (Photograph by Allan Grant); Colour Her Gone, 1962, by Pauline Boty. © Pauline Boty Estate, Reproduction by permission of Wolverhampton Art Gallery, Purchased with the assistance of the Art Fund and the Friends of Wolverhampton Arts and Heritage.

The advent of photography revolutionised how we make and share images. The inventions of William Henry Fox Talbot and Louis Daguerre were rapidly adopted, and by the mid nineteenth century, travellers, merchants and diplomats were travelling around the world with a camera.

BRLSI’s new exhibition explains the early origins of photography and the difficulties that early photographers faced in the field. It might seem that the cities of Shanghai and Bath stood ‘worlds apart’ at this time, but these two collections of photographs draw interesting parallels and place them together in surprising ways. Carefully composed and wonderfully evocative, the images capture our attention and transport us back in time.

Francis Lockey’s calotypes, made from paper negatives, explore the Bath of 170 years ago, with some spots barely recognisable and others barely changed. The historic prints have been enlarged and reprinted especially for the exhibition so that the finest detail is visible while preserving the unique qualities of the original images.

Low light levels in a specially constructed booth enable the display of some original fragile negatives of Bath scenes (surprisingly crisp and clear considering they come from a time when photography was still in its infancy). Despite the many thousands of miles that separated the photographers in Bath and China, they were attracted by remarkably similar subjects; ancient buildings, bridges, gateways, and rural landscapes.

The photographs from China, taken at a time of great political strife during the Second Opium War, contain fascinating portraits of bankers, street traders, school children and diplomats, as well as rivers, pagodas and temples. Historic objects from the BRLSI collections, things like the hats, fans, children’s toys and shoes we glimpse in the photographic scenes of the daily life of Chinese people, bring the scenes to life and add depth and colour to the exhibition. The gallery space also delivers the chance to learn something of the early origins of photography.

For children visiting there are activities to fuel curiosity and capture the imagination and you may even want to keep a look out for BRLSI’s photography centred summer holiday workshops.

Worlds Apart: Rare Early Photographs of China and Bath
28 March-26 September 2026 (closed Sundaysand Bank Holidays)
Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution, 16-18 Queen Square, Bath, Somerset BA1 2HN
https://www.brlsi.org/whatson/worlds-apart-rare-early-photographs-of-china-bath/

Image: (left): Huxinting Teahouse, dubbed the ‘Willow Pattern Tea House’ by foreigners, 1850s; (right): Coal wharf on Kennet & Avon Canal, Bath, Francis Lockey,1856

A remarkable body of work by the late photographer Joyce Edwards is being unveiled for the first time in a new exhibition that reveals one of East London’s most extraordinary grassroots housing movements. Edwards, a Hampstead landlady turned passionate documentarian, ventured into the East End nearly 50 years ago to photograph the young squatters who were transforming derelict streets into vibrant, if precarious, homes.

Edwards passed away in 2023, just months before her hundredth birthday, leaving behind a substantial legacy of fine photographs—many lovingly printed in her own darkroom. Much of this work was nearly lost to time, but a recent discovery and archiving effort has brought her images back into the light.

In the 1970s, Edwards began photographing squats across London, a journey which took her from affluent locations such as The Bishops Avenue, now known as Billionaires’ Row—to the heart of Bethnal Green. There she encountered ‘the Triangle’, a cluster of streets near the Grand Union canal and Victoria Park. The houses on the Triangle had been earmarked for demolition to make way for the monstrous London Ringways motorway scheme that included the Eastway, a road straight through Victoria Park to the A12. Mercifully the plan was scrapped, but only after hundreds of residents had been decanted and rehoused. The empty houses were soon seized upon by young people and locals seeking an inexpensive and alternative way of life in the capital. Over 2 years, Edwards took their portraits, creating an intimate and richly detailed record of a unique community.  

The squatters' story is one of resilience and self-determination. The community of the Triangle did more than restore the homes; over the following years they established a Housing Co-op. Supported by SOLON Housing Association, the architect Julian Harrap and Cooperative Development Services (CDS), they convinced the Greater London Council and the Housing Corporation to eventually sell them the freeholds to all 79 properties. Today, the community continues to thrive as the Grand Union Housing Co-op. As Pete Bishop assures us, “The Co-op survives because of the involvement of the members and that we are fully mutual and, crucially, because our 1981 constitution includes a No Right to Buy clause.”

The exhibition brings together Edwards’ compelling portraits of the musicians, builders, painters, actors and radicals that occupied the Grand Union squats, alongside snapshots taken by the squatters themselves: vibrant Kodachrome slides, Polaroids, and drugstore prints that capture the spontaneity and creativity of life inside the Triangle. Together, these images form an unprecedented visual record of an East London community that refused to disappear.

Joyce Edwards: A Story of Squatters
13 February - 21 March 2026
Four Corners, 121 Roman Road, London, E2 0QN
Wednesday - Saturday 11am - 6pm. Free and open to all
See: https://www.fourcornersfilm.co.uk/whats-on/joyce-edwards-a-story-of-squatters

Women Photographers 1900–1975: A Legacy of Light celebrates the wide-ranging photographic practices of more than eighty women artists working between 1900 and 1975. Featuring prints, postcards, photobooks and magazines, the exhibition explores the role of photographers as image-makers, and the ways in which women artists create an image of themselves, of others, of the times – from images of the women’s suffrage movement at the turn of the twentieth century, through to the women’s liberation movement and beyond. From Melbourne to Tokyo, Paris to Buenos Aires, the exhibition showcases the works of trailblazing artists such as Berenice Abbott, Lola Álvarez Bravo, Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore, Imogen Cunningham, Mikki Ferrill, Sue Ford, Christine Godden, Ponch Hawkes, Annemarie Heinrich, Ruth Hollick, Florence Henri, Kati Horna, Germaine Krull, Tina Modotti, Lucia Moholy, Toyoko Tokiwa, Yamazawa Eiko and many more.

The exhibition reflects a recent collecting focus on celebrating the contributions of women artists of the early twentieth century in the NGV Photography Collection. Featuring portraiture, photojournalism, landscape photography, photomontage, experimental avant-garde imagery and more, Women Photographers 1900–1975: A Legacy of Light presents the diverse work of women photographers against the backdrop of significant social, political and cultural events.

Opening in November 2025, the exhibition coincides with the fifty-year anniversary of International Women’s Year 1975, which established the United Nations’ annual celebration of International Women’s Day.

Women Photographers 1900–1975: A Legacy of Light
until 3 May 2026
NGV, Melbourne, Australia
See: https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/exhibition/women-photographers-1900-1975/

See: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2025/nov/30/women-photographers-1900-to-1975-a-legacy-of-light-in-pictures

Image: Gertrude KASEBIER, The gargoyle (c. 1900), platinum photograph, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Purchased through The Art Foundation of Victoria with the assistance of the Herald & Weekly Times Limited, Fellow, 1979. PH27-1979

Colmore BID is shining a spotlight on one of its most overlooked innovators, unveiling a brand-new exhibition Birmingham’s Photographic Pioneer’ honouring George Shaw (1818-1904). Produced by artist Jo Gane and organised and funded by Colmore Business District (BID), the free, open to all exhibition explores Shaw’s pioneering contributions to photography, science and civic life, and aims to restore his rightful place among the city’s celebrated figures. The exhibition builds on initial work by Pete James. 

While Birmingham proudly commemorates icons like Boulton and Watt, Benjamin Zephaniah, Ozzy Osbourne and even the fictional Tommy Shelby, George Shaw’s legacy has remained largely unrecognised – until now. Born in Dudley and the son of a glass maker, Shaw was a patent agent, chemist, artist and educator who made Birmingham’s first daguerreotype photograph in 1839. Shaw’s influence extended far beyond photography, lecturing widely on chemistry and scientific advancements. He played a key role in the city’s educational institutions, helping to establish Birmingham’s first free public library. His work caught the attention of scientist Michael Faraday, where Shaw collaborated with metallurgist John Percy on groundbreaking photographic experiments.

Designed and arranged by Birmingham designer Stacey Barnfield, the exhibition is located at the West Midlands Metro Town Hall stop, outside Queens College Chambers, a key building where Shaw lectured and undertook his practice. It will showcase reproductions of rare daguerreotypes uncovered by the late Pete James, former curator of photographs at Birmingham Central Library. These images, now the subject of a practice-based PhD study by artist Jo Gane, offer a unique glimpse into Shaw’s artistic and scientific legacy. 

In partnership with the Colmore BID team, Gane has developed this exhibition to reconnect Birmingham with its innovative industrial and artistic past. She said: “It has been a privilege to research Shaw’s photographs and uncover the activities of his network in Birmingham that tells a fascinating story of art, science and industry.”

Exhibition highlights include reproductions of rare daguerreotypes and calotype photographs by George Shaw, archival materials and artworks from Shaw’s collaborations with John Percy and Frederick Henry Henshaw, insight into Shaw’s role in major exhibitions including the 1851 Great Exhibition and displays exploring early photographic processes and Birmingham’s role in their development.

Melanie Williams, Colmore BID Board Director and lead of Outstanding Places said: “George Shaws’ story is a powerful reminder of Birmingham’s legacy as a city of innovation and creativity. We’re proud to deliver this exhibition which not only celebrates a largely unrecognised pioneer, but also invites the city to better reflect and respect its rich industrial and artistic heritage.”

Birmingham’s Photographic Pioneer’ honouring George Shaw (1818-1904)
on view through November/December 2025
Outdoors, by West Midlands Metro Town Hall stop, outside Queens College Chambers, Birmingham
Produced by Jo Gane, with Birmingham BID
For more information, visit https://colmorebusinessdistrict.com/projects/george-shaw/.  

Installation shots courtesy Jo Gane.

Roger Mayne is one of the most significant and influential photographers in British history. His images captured the poverty and hardship of inner city life in West London in the late 1950s with a rare and touching sensitivity and tenderness. The people he photographed – especially the children – are full of joy, fun, energy and life. And they are absolutely obsessed with football.

OOF Gallery’s winter 2025 exhibition is the first ever show dedicated to the portrayal of football in Roger Mayne’s work, featuring original prints of some of his most notable and iconic photographs. The game (and here it is a game, not a sport) appears over and over in his photography: kids in shorts dive to save wild shots on hard concrete, leap into the sky to head the ball to a mate, dribble down the middle of the road. These are images of kids at play, doing what they do best. It's children living totally free, expressing themselves, even in unimaginably deprived circumstances. They are photographs of joy against the odds. Much of Mayne’s most important work has football at its heart. Through his eyes, it represents something we all seem to eventually forget: the simple ecstasy of youth.

Roger Mayne: ‘Football’
28 November 2025 - 1 March 2026 (closed 21 December to 14 January inclusive)
OOF Gallery, Warmington House, 744 High Road, London N17 0AP.
Admission is free. Use entrance for the Tottenham Experience at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Open Mon, Thu, Fri, 10-5, Sat 11-5 & Sun 12-4. Closed Tue & Wed. Opening hours are subject to change on event days.
See: https://oofgallery.com/

Image: Three young men and a boy playing football in Brindley Road. © Roger Mayne Archive _ Mary Evans Picture Library. Courtesy OOF Gallery

I know from many years reading on here, that the depth of knowledge is a delight, but this is my first post with limited knowledge.

I have just come into ownership of the above five original prints by the North East own Lyddell Sawyer, and despite my original intention of selling, friends have convinced me to take the hit on the bank balance and keep them.

But we rarely get a chance to see such prints close up, so I will be showing them at the Great Northern Decorative Antiques Fair at Newcastle Racecourse 26th and 27th April and all are welcome to come along and view them and say hello.

Thanks to all for the knowledge over the years

Richard

It is my absolute pleasure to announce that from the 24 April (yes I know it is May please don’t judge me) to 19 June 2021 Llantarnam Grange will be hosting Phrame Wales newest exhibition Ode To Anna.

Ode to Anna is a celebration of the legacy of Anna Atkins, one of the first female photographers and champion of the Cyanotype process. This show exhibits work by members of Phrame that has either been inspired by Atkins or draws attention to her innovation and the themes surrounding her images. Ode to Anna not only highlights the lasting impression she has made on the photographic world and its history but showcases a range of photographic processes being practiced within South Wales today.⁠

Artists : Molly Caenwyn, Savanna Dumelow, Faye L-Griffiths, Sharon Magill, Kate Mercer, Jane Nesbitt, Tess Emily Seymour, Catherine Yemm & Patricia Ziad

Llantarnam Grange is open Tuesday to Saturday 9:30 – 3:30 (Free admission).
Currently visitors are limited to 6 people in any room at any one time.
Face masks are a requirement. 

Dramatic photos taken at the height of the Handsworth Riots are to appear on billboards across the city this month in a project by two of the city's most influential black artists.

Poems by Benjamin Zephaniah will accompany the images taken by Pogus Caesar for Handsworth 1985 Revisited.

The two men - both 'sons of Handsworth' - hope the work will be a stark reminder that anger caused by neglect, poverty and racism can sometimes erupt into violence. 

As Caesar describes it: "A tiny spark can become a gigantic flame". “The conditions I see when I walk around Handsworth and Lozells are very much the same as they were back in 1985.

"Those riots were the result of frustration built up over years of people suffering from poor job prospects, poor housing, poverty, harassment, racism, and a ‘them-and-us’ situation."

The artist was living in Handsworth when the riots erupted in September 1985.

The stunning images he captured at the time on his 35mm Canon camera will feature alongside reflective poems by writer and Handsworth ‘elder statesman’ Zephaniah.

They will be appearing in up to 20 locations around the city centre and on roadsides later this month.

The project, which has been three years in the making, is designed to “stimulate conversation” about the underlying issues of disengagement, deprivation and racism that still stalk the inner city.

 “We hope they will afford a provocative walk through the events of 1985 and a sobering, timely reminder of how easily ignorance, inequality and justice begets social unrest,” Caesar said.

https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/handsworth-riots-being-revisited-giant-15928028

In the late 1960s. twenty-one year old David Peat created a portfolio of Glasgow photographs to help him gain entry to the film business.  Shortly before he died in 2012, Peat, long respected as a leading and award-winning cinematographer and documentary film maker, finally made these extraordinary images available to the public.  As perceptions of street life in Gorbals and other parts of Glasgow, they are beautifully crafted and touching, especially as the bulldozers were about to move in and an entire way of life was coming to an end.

This is the first time these photographs, hidden for forty years, will have been exhibited in London. 

Two books of David Peat's work will be available at Panter and Hall, Eye on the Street and Eye on the World..

Panter and Hall
11-12 Pall Mall
London
SW1Y 5LU

http://www.davidpeatphotography.com

http://www.panterandhall.com

http://www.renaissancepress.co.uk

This is a fascinating exhibition about the history of London portrayed through Victorian era photographs. The best photographs in the posting are by John Thomson. The composition of these images is exemplary with their eloquent use of light and low depth of field. The seemingly nonchalant but obviously staged positioning of the figures is coupled with superb rendition of light in photographs such as 'Old Furniture', 'London Nomades' and 'Recruiting Sergeants At Westminster'.

The details are intriguing, such as shooting contre-jour or into the light in 'Recruiting Sergeants At Westminster' with one of the soldiers and the two street lads in the distance staring directly at the camera. This seems to be a technique of Thomson’s, for there is always one person in his intimate group photographs staring straight at the camera, which in this era is unusual in itself. The women on the steps of the Romany caravan stares straight at the camera, one of the two children framed in the doorway behind slightly blurred, telling us the length of the exposure.

Then we have the actual characters themselves. With his tall hat and what seems to be scars around his mouth, the man centre stage in The Cheap Fish Of St. Giles’s (1877, below) reminds me of that nasty character Bill Sikes out of Charles Dicken’s immortal Oliver Twist (1837-39). And the poverty stricken from the bottom of the barrel… the destitute women and baby in The “Crawlers” – Portrait of a destitute woman with an infant (1877, below). “The abject misery into which they are plunged is not always self sought and merited; but is, as often, the result of unfortunate circumstances and accident.” It must have been so tough in that era to survive every day in London. See Matthew Beaumont. Nightwalking: A Nocturnal History of London, Chaucer to Dickens. London and New York: Verso, 2015.

Dr Marcus Bunyan for Art Blart

http://wp.me/pn2J2-7gh

John Thomson
The “Crawlers” – Portrait of a destitute woman with an infant
1877
© City of London: London Metropolitan Archives

“The industrial and social developments of the 19th century and their effect on the city and by extension the poor in Britain were subjects of interest and detailed study in the Victorian period. Street Life in London by Adolphe Smith and John Thomson is a good example of this and in particular, its use of early photographic processes.

Adolphe Smith was an experienced journalist connected to social reform movements. While John Thomson was a photographer who had spent considerable time in the Far East, especially China, and central to his work was the photography of streets and individuals at work. Produced in 12 monthly issues, starting in February 1877, each issue had three stories accompanied by a photograph. Most of the text was written by Smith, although two are attributed to Thomson – London Nomades and Street Floods in Lambeth. The images were staged as tableau rather than being spontaneous street scenes and the relatively new process – Woodburytype – was used to reproduce the images consistently in large numbers for the publication.”

Text from the London Metropolitan Archives Facebook page

Unknown photographer
Trafalgar Square
c. 1867
© City of London : London Metropolitan Archives

The first proposal for a square on the site of the former King’s Mews was drawn up by John Nash. It was part of King George IV’s extravagant vision for the west end curtailed by his death in 1830. Trafalgar Square was completed between 1840 and 1845 by Sir Charles Barry. There had been proposals to erect a monument to Horatio Nelson since his death at Trafalgar in 1805 but it was 1838 before a committee was formed to raise funds and consider proposals. William Railton’s design was chosen from dozens of entrants and his impressive Devonshire granite column with its statue of Nelson by E. H. Baily was erected in 1839-43. It was already attracting photographers before the scaffolding was dismantled. The four lions at the base of the column were originally to be in stone rather than bronze but it was 1857 before a commission was given to the artist Sir Edwin Landseer (1802-1873). This photograph shows two of the lions when newly positioned some ten years later.

In research I am conducting about the first exhibitions of photography, I have been made aware of entries in the 1841 Royal Scottish Academy annual exhibition catalogue. 

Roddy Simpson, in his book The Photography of Victorian Scotland, states that four Daguerreotypes were exhibited, but information I received directly from the RSA indicates only three were displayed.The catalogue provides entries for three Daguerreotypes, all by a photographer identified only as "Montreal, D. 18 Drummond Street, Paris."

I am unable to find anything online about this individual, and I am posting this to see if anyone has any further information. Here is the entry page from the catalogue:

An exhibition of photography by war hero Terence Spencer is now open at the new Shrewsbury Museum & Art Gallery this summer until 31st August. With two audacious careers, first as a World War II fighter pilot and later as a celebrated photo-journalist for American magazine LIFE; ‘Living Dangerously’ will showcase the work Terry did to capture momentous events from the swinging sixties and the rise of The Beatles to the horror of conflicts in the Congo, Vietnam and Northern Ireland.

The exhibition has been curated by Terry’s eldest daughter, Cara Spencer, who was left a remarkable photo archive of over one million negatives when her father passed away in 2009. Commenting on the new exhibition, Cara says:

“Dad led quite a life. He was a combination of Biggles and James Bond all rolled into one. The show will tell the story of his remarkable life, as well as the lives of those he captured so poignantly on film. We’ll have black and white reportage photographs and huge colour images, as well as memorabilia from his time in the RAF. I’m looking forward to sharing the iconic works and hidden gems of dad’s collection with visitors to the museum”.

There will also be pictures from Rockarchive, featuring Terry Spencer’s photos of stars including Marianne Faithfull, Robert Plant, Oasis, The Police and The Smiths. Rockarchive’s founder Jill Furmanovsky says:

“Terry Spencer was a great friend to Rockarchive and contributed a collection of marvellous images, including Robert Plant striding through the woods of Herefordshire, John, Paul, George and Ringo in various settings and Bob Dylan at the Isle of Wight in his famous white suit”.

Tina Woodward, Shropshire Council deputy Cabinet member for visitor economy, said:

“The collection is simply amazing and I’m really proud to see such high quality exhibitions coming to the new Museum & Art Gallery. The wide variety of subjects in the collection means there is something for everyone to delve into.”

Run by Shropshire Council, the new Shrewsbury Museum & Art Gallery opened in April 2014 as the result of a major restoration project on the town’s old Music Hall, where The Beatles performed on two separate occasions in 1962/3. The ‘Living Dangerously’ collection of photographs, which takes its name from Terry and his wife Lesley’s joint autobiography, will be housed in the Special Exhibitions Gallery overlooking The Square and Old Market Hall.

The exhibition ‘Living Dangerously’ will run 19 July – 31 August. Shrewsbury Museum & Art Gallery is open 10am – 5pm, seven days a week. Admission is £4.00 per adult and £2.00 per child, which includes entry to the Special Exhibitions Gallery. Concessions are available. For more information visit www.shrewsburymuseum.org.uk

'Living Dangerously' - The Terence Spencer Photographic Exhibition is the first such show at the newly launched £10m Shrewsbury Museum & Art Gallery in the heart of the town's historic centre. The Museum is based in the former Music Hall which was the town's principal entertainment venue from 1840 to 2009 and saw many musical acts including The Beatles in 1962/3. Now the Fab Four are back with some beautiful images taken by Terence Spencer when he followed the band around for four months in 1963.

Terence Spencer's work covers wars in Vietnam and the Congo, personalities such as Princess Grace, filmstars like Ava Gardner, John Mills, Richard Chamberlain, Rex Harrison and politicians such as Edward Heath, Tony Benn and Margaret Thatcher.

Terry's photos are supplemented by those of other rock photographers such as Jill Furmanovsky which have been kindly loaned by Rockarchive and feature Oasis, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Paul McCartney and George Martin, Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Jimi Hedrix and Amy Winehouse.

The Exhibition was launched on Friday 18th July by his daughter Cara who lives near Shrewsbury and is the custodian of her late father's extensive archive. Photos are licensed via Camera Press and more information about the archive can be found at http://terencespencerphotoarchive.net

The exhibition is in the main gallery on the first floor which has large windows giving excellent views of The Square and the 1596 Old Market Hall, now a cinema and cafe bar.

The Museum & Art Gallery is in the heart of Shrewsbury's medieval town centre and tells the history of the town from its Roman origins at Wroxeter through The Industrial Revoloution to modern manufacturing.

Admission to the whole Museum & Art Gallery including the Exhibition costs £4 for adults and £2 for children.

www.shrewsburymuseum.org.uk

Bushey Museum and Art Gallery, located near Watford, opens a temporary exhibition Amateur Photography in Bushey on 4 August. The display in the museum's entrance area displays cameras from the museum collection ranging from an 1870s George Hare quarter-plate tailboard camera up to modern digital cameras by way of an original Kodak, various Brownies, a Leica, AGI, Instamatic and many others. The cameras were owned or used by Bushey residents and the display has been arranged by museum volunteers Michael Pritchard and Patrick Forsyth.

Over forty cameras are on display (part only showing in course of arrangement, right) including the only camera actually made in Bushey - the J. Langham Thompson Thompson Land oscilloscope camera dating from the 1950s-1960s. The exhibition runs until early December 2011.

The museum is located close to the M1 and M25 and there is parking available close by.  Details of the museum's location and openings times can be found here: http://www.busheymuseum.org